Catherine A. Cherrstrom’s research while affiliated with Texas State University and other places

Educational technology facilitates convenient access to online programs for adult students but also presents challenges. Using a conceptual framework of Knowles’ andragogy process of program development and learner interaction theory, this study examined ed tech in an online degree program designed to serve adult students. Participants included adult educators and students from an online degree program at a large, public, Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Southwest region of the United States. Using qualitative methods, data collection comprised observations and documents, and data analysis used Creswell and Creswell's five-step process. Findings illuminate three major online facilitations: Ed tech facilitates an andragogical process of development for programs, traditional and new learner interactions, and the research process of adult students. The findings offer implications to develop the theory, practice, and policy of ed tech in online learning for adult students and educators.

This study examined the motives and drives of adult students during online degree completion, including the commonalities among and differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic adult students. Participants included 364 adult students at a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) who completed a series of reflective writing assignments, generating over 15,000 pages of data. After linguistic and statistical data analysis, results identified the drives and motives common to all adult students and significant differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic adult students. Some merit little or no action, while three offer opportunities—achievement and affiliation as drives, the states of acquire and lack, and allure as motive. These results offer implications for Hispanic and non-Hispanic adult students and those in higher education who serve or teach such students—academic advisors, instructional designers, instructors, and program administrators—and inform how technology can support such efforts.

For the United States to remain globally competitive, policymakers, researchers, and administrators emphasize the need for a highly skilled and diverse STEM workforce. As such, the US education system must recruit high-quality, diverse, STEM-certified teachers to improve STEM learning outcomes and career pathways for all students, including historically underrepresented minority students. Increased recruitment and retention of minoritized STEM teachers through alternative certification pathways will dissipate the shortage of qualified STEM teachers. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine trends in STEM teacher certification by race or ethnicity to address minoritized teacher shortages in Texas, the second largest education authority in the US. The study analyzed 67,629 teacher certification records from the Texas Education Agency’s State Board for Educator Certification. Results revealed disparities in Race or Ethnicity among STEM teachers that could dispel the teacher shortage gap if parity were achieved among White, Hispanic, and Black STEM teachers.

Prior learning assessment (PLA) uses testing or competency portfolios to assess and grant credit for college-level learning, thus offering personal and professional empowerment to adult learners. The purpose of this review was to systematically examine global academic literature related to PLA over a decade. An earlier review of U.S. literature focused solely on PLA, but this review focused on the globally used term recognition of prior learning (RPL) and prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR). Data collection followed a structured process to identify all peer-reviewed journal articles published over a decade that meet inclusion criteria. Data analysis included thematic coding to identify categories leading to themes. Major findings included journals publishing about PLA, author perspectives and affiliations, underlying empirical studies, and eight major themes: studies of programs, policy and systems, studies of PLA, technology tools, theory building, assessment practices, workplace applications of PLA, and immigration.

The U.S. faces increasing demand for STEM knowledge, contributing to enhanced products, improved health care, more efficient energy sources, a preserved environment, safeguarded national security, and economic growth. In addition, high-paying occupations increasingly require STEM knowledge, and in non-STEM occupations, workers increasingly need STEM knowledge for workplace success and earn significantly more than those without such knowledge. Community colleges supply a major portion of STEM education to the current and future workforce, and researchers have examined the role of community colleges in preparing current and future workers with for STEM occupations but less so for non-STEM occupations. The current study examined STEM knowledge in non-STEM occupations in the U.S. Using data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the findings included 19 major groups of non-STEM occupations and 15 STEM knowledge areas in non-STEM occupations. The study further found higher levels of STEM knowledge associated with higher wages for select areas and, using O*NET benchmark standards, identified the levels of STEM knowledge required in non-STEM occupations.

Advances in computing power have accelerated the growth of knowledge and created opportunities. However, the resulting tidal wave of information presents challenges, including vast quantity with varying quality. In higher education, curation offers one solution as librarians and faculty, as educators and researchers, increasingly curate knowledge for students, colleagues, and other stakeholders. Using integrative and systematic methods, the purpose of this literature review was to examine curation in education. This article presents major findings related to the panorama, perspective, people, product, place, purpose, and process of curation in education. We also discuss major themes including the changing and expanding landscape of curation from curating artifacts to content and data, from non-formal to formal learning contexts, from individual to collaborative curation, and the role of curation in education in bridging people, communities, and knowledge.

Improved educational technology provides new opportunities and tools for enhanced teaching and learning. However, low efficacy with technology adversely affects nontraditional students’ course and college outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine nontraditional student perceptions of educational technology tools. We thematically coded 10 discussion forums and 239 analyses of 125 student-selected tools. This article highlights traditional student voices and presents a list of tools organized by purpose, the template used by students to analyze tools, and student perceptions of tools. Discussed major themes comprise a wide breadth of tools and purposes, differing experiences in applying theory to practice, and tools supporting learning and interaction in multiple domains.